Method of and apparatus for



y 1934. A. F. WRIGHT METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR CONDITIONING AIR FiledJuly 12, 1953 Patented .Fuiy 1Q, 1934.

UNITED STATES METHOD OF AND CONDITIO Archibald F. Wright,

APPARATUS FOR NING AIR South Orange, N. J.

Application July 12, 1933, Serial No. 679,996

6 Claims.

This invention relates to apparatus and process for conditioning air forindustrial, domestic and for any other purpose where desired. By use ofthis method and apparatus a reasonable cooling comfort and ventilationcan be had in summer, and heating, humidifying and ventilating can behad in winter. The apparatus is automatically controlled, so that thedesired or required conditions can be obtained and maintained.

One object of my invention is the provision of a method and apparatuswhereby air may be cooled for maintaining a chamber cooler than thesurrounding atmosphere.

Another object of my invention is the provision of a method andapparatus whereby the humidity of a chamber may be changed andmaintained at the desired percentage.

A further object of my invention is the provision of a relatively smalland compact device which is cheap to install and cheap to operate.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and such other objects as mayhereinafter appear, this invention consists in the construction,combination, and arrangement of parts and the methods hereinafterdescribed and then sought to be defined in the appended claims,reference being had to the accompanying drawing forming a part hereof,and which shows merely for the 80 purpose of illustrative disclosure, apreferred embodiment of my invention, it being expressly understood,however, that various changes may be made in practice within the scopeof the claims without digressing from my inventive idea.

Referring now to the drawing:

Fig. 1 represents a longitudinal vertical cross section of an airconditioner;

Fig. 2 represents a longitudinal horizontal cross section takensubstantially on line 2--2 of 40 Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 represents a detail showing the damper in reversed position topermit the air to mix and exit at one place.

In the drawing the reference character 10 designates a casing providedwith an inlet 12 and outlets 14 and 15. The outlet 14 comprises thegrilled opening 16. The outlet 15 comprises grilled opening 17 throughwhich the humid air passes from the apparatus and is exhausted into theair by an exhaust conduit or the like (not shown) when the device isused to cool air. The outlets are separated by a damper 18 which may beoperated by the handle 20 or any other suitable means. Positionedadjacent the inlet 12 is a fan 22 which is adapted to draw like so as toair into the casi air chamber 23.

air louvres or. air are adjustable by ng 10 through the inlet and intoIn the path of the incoming baiiles 24 are provided which means of thehandle 26 or any other suitable means so as to vary the amount of airbeing passed through the louvres. The louvres or baille plates areadjusted so as to deflect only a portion of the air from air chamber 23and the remaining portion of the air passes downwardly into the bottomportion 28 of the it is desired to heat the second air, a heatingelement 30 is propositioned in the path of travel portion of the air.

vided which is of the second element as sh eat being supplied to thement is go verned by magnetic valve be conditioned and operation of thecauses magnetic valve 33 to function.

Within the casing 10 a tube chamber 36 is provided having the upperpartition 38 and lower partition 40 connected by tubes 42. An upper er44 is provided which communicates with ttom portion 28 of the casing 10by means 86' of the tubes 42. It is to be noted that in its verticalposition, damper 18 forms one end of chamber 44. These tubes may be madeof relatively thin wall material, such as copper metal or the permitrapid heat transfers. If de- 90 sired, the tubes may be corrugated topresent larger heat exchanging surfaces or may be rifled to give the airin the tubes a swirling motion to insure constant moving of the air andintimate contact with the tubes. I may also use fins on the tubes toassist in the heat exchanging operations. Positioned in the tube chamber36 adjacent the adjustable louvres or air baflles 24 are the spray heads46 which are connected to the water pump 48 by means of pipes 50. Awater supply pipe 51 is provided. These spray heads are positioned ateach side of the casing and spray the water streams upwardly and towardeach other as minute particles or as a fine mist into the air enteringthe tube chamber. When the water is sprayed into the air, some of thewater is evaporated. This evaporation extracts heat from the air andlowers the temperature of the air. This cooler air entering tube chamber36 contacts the exterior of tubes 42 thermostat and cools the air in theinterior of the tubes. Due to this action the heat in the air in thetubes will be transferred to the air on the outside of the tubes andmore water is evaporated to further cool the outer air. This exchange ofheat continues while the air passes through tube chamber 36. The waterpump 48 is operated to deliver water at the required pressure to pipes50 by motor 52. The current to the motor 52 is controlled by magneticswitch 53 which in turn is controlled by humidostat 54 that is locatedin the chamber in which the air is to be conditioned. From the above itwill be apparent that the device functions automatically because thethermostat 34 regulates the heating element and humidostat 54 regulatesthe amount of water being delivered to spray heads 46.

When the device is used to humidify the air and with the damper in theposition shown in Fig. 1, it is necessary to provide means to catchdrops of water which may be carried by the air passing through the tubechamber 36. At the rear end of the device and on the back wall the watercombs 60 are provided to prevent drops of water from passing out withthe outgoing humidified air. Positioned beneath the water combs 60 is adrip pan 62. It is to be noted that, drip pan 62 shuts off chamber 63from the rest of the interior of casing 10 so that inspection of pump 48and motor 52 may be made without stopping the operation of the device. Adrip pan 64 is also provided beneath the water heads 46. Also a drip panmay be provided for the bottom chamber 28 of casing 10, but such drippan has not been shown in the drawing.

The operation of the device will now be given when it is desired to coolair in the summer time and deliver it to a room, chamber or the like.The damper 18 is put in the position shown in Fig. 1. The humidostat 54may be disconnected so that the water pump will be continually operated.The heating element 30 is shut off so that no heat is added to the air.'Ihe fan 22 is operated and draws in air through the opening or inlet 12into air chamber 23. "One portion of the air passes through louvres orair baflles 24 which have been adjusted to permit a certain volume ofthe air to pass into tube chamber 36. The other portion of the airpasses downwardly into the lower portion or chamber 28 of casing 10 andup through the interior of tubes 42. The first portion of the airpassing into tube chamber 361s charged with water from the spray heads46, the waterbelng intheformof afinemistandinfine particles so that amaximum amount of surface is presented and a relatively large volume ofwater is evaporated. A certain amount of the water is vaporized by themixing of the air and spray which extracts heat from the air and thiscauses a lowering of the temperature of the air due to evaporation. Thiscooled air and any residual amount of fine water spray contact with theexterior of the tubes 42 where a heat exchange is made from the air inthe tubes to the cooler air on the outside of the tubes. This results inwarming of the cooler exterior air so that further evaporation of thefine water spray in the air is effected, thereby again lowering thetemperature of the exterior air. These heat exchanges continue to takeplace while the air is passing through the tube chamber 36. The humidexterior air is passed through the tube chamber 36 and out throughgrilled opening 17 of outlet 15. The cooled air within the tubes 42passes up through the tubes into upper chamber 44 and leaves theapparatus through the grilled opening 16 of outlet 14 and is permittedto mix with the air in the chamber to be cooled.

' In the winter when it is desired to heat and humidify the air in aroom, chamber or the like, damper 18 is placed in the position shown inFig. 3 so as to permit mixing of the two portions of the air which havepassed on the exterior of the tubes and the interior of the tubes asthese two portions are leaving the apparatus. In this position thedamper 18 closes the openings 17 in the outlet 15 so that the dividedstreams are adapted to unite and leave the apparatus as one stream. Thethermostat may be set at any desired figure, as, for example, 70 F. andthe humidostat may be set at any figure, as, for example, 40% relativehumidity. The steam or other heating means used for heating element 30is controlled by the thermostat. The thermostat will maintain thedesired temperature by controlling the magnetic valve 33 of the heatingelement and the humidostat will maintain the required relative humidityby controlling the motor 52 and water pump 48. Air is drawn into thecasing and is divided into two portions, the one portion passing throughthe louvres or air baiiles 24 and into tube chamber 36 and being mixedwith the water spray, and the other portion passing over the heatingelement 30 where it is heated and then passed through the interior ofthe tubes 42. 05 The heated drier air passing through the interior ofthe tubes is mixed in the upper chamber 44 with the humid cooled airpassing around the exterior of the tubes in the tube chamber and themixture passes out of the device as a single stream through the outlet14. In this way the air in the room, chamber or the like is given theproper temperature and correct humidity. The thermostat and humidostatfunction automatically to bring about the desired conditions.

In air conditioning for industries the apparatus and method above setforth may be used to humidify, cool and ventilate and also to conditionproducts and materials. Products and materials such as furniture,leather, tobacco, etc. may be m kept or stored at the right temperatureand right humidity. For this operation and for commercial humidifying,the damper 18 is in the position shown in Fig. 1. However, in this workthe humid air on the exterior of the tubes 42 and in the tube-chamber 36is more essential than the cooled air so that the humid air leavingoutlet 15 is conducted to the chamber or room where the air conditioningis desired. The humidostat and thermostat may be set at any desiredfigure to m produce the results desired or sought.

If fresh air is desired instead of recirculating room air the fan 22 maybe connected to the outside air and the air filtered and cleaned beforeentering the apparatus.

My invention is also adapted for use on moving vehicles such asautomobiles, buses, railroad coaches, Pullmans and the like. For suchuse, however, it is necessary to provide a water reservoir for supplyingwater to the spray heads.

From the above it will be apparent that I have disclosed a relativelysimple and compact device and a new method for cooling, humidifying, andconditioning air and ventilating rooms, chambers and the like.

What I claim is:

1. A method of conditioning air, which comprises, spraying water intoair to allow partial evaporation of the water and cooling of the air,

conducting the cooled air into contact with relatively thin tubescontaining air to be cooled so that the heat in the air in the tubeswill be transferred to the air on the outside of the tubes, then causingfurther evaporation of water to cool the outside air, and thencontacting the rela ively thin tubes with the cooled air to extract heatfrom the warmer air inside the tubes and cool the air inside the tubes.

2. A device of the character described, including, in combination, acasing having an inlet and an outlet, fan means for drawing in air intosaid casing and forcing it therethrough, means for dividing the air intotwo streams, a plurality of. tubes in said casing, means for addingwater to one stream of air to raise the water content thereof, means forheating the other stream of air. said first stream passing around saidtubes and said second stream passing through said tubes, a chamber abovesaid tubes for mixing the two streams of treated air and permitting themixture to pass into a room or the like.

3. A device of the character described, including, in combination, acasing having an inlet and an outlet, fan means for drawing air intosaid casing and forcing it therethrough, means for dividing the air intotwo streams, a plurality of tubes in said casing, means for adding waterto one stream of air to raise the water content thereof, means forheating the other stream of air, and a chamber above said tubes formixing the two streams of treated air and permitting the mixture to passinto a room or the like.

4. A device of the character described for conditioning air or the like,including, in combination, a casing having an inlet and an outlet, fanmeans for drawing air into said casing and forcing it therethrough,means whereby the air is divided into two streams, a plurality of tubesin said casing, means for spraying water as a fine mist into one streamto cause the cooling of such stream on the exterior of the tubes, andmeans whereby the cooled stream is indirectly contacted with the otherstream of air within the tubes to cool the other stream without addingwater thereto.

5. A device of the character described, including, in combination, acasing having an inlet and an outlet, fan means for drawing air intosaid casing and forcing it therethrough, means for dividing the air intotwo streams, a plurality of tubes in said casing, means for adding waterto one stream of air to raise the water content thereof, means forheating the other stream or air, said first stream passing around saidtubes and said second stream passing through said tubes, a chamber abovesaid tubes for mixing the two streams of treated air and permitting themixture to pass into a room or the like, and thermostat means forautomatically stopping the operation of the heating means when thetemperature in the room or the like reaches a predetermined limit.

6. A device of the character described, in cluding, in combination, acasing having an inlet .and an outlet, fan means for drawing air intosaid casing and forcing it therethrough, means for dividing the air intotwo streams, a plurality of tubes in said casing, means for adding waterto one stream of air to raise the water content thereof, means forheating the other stream of air, said first stream passing around saidtubes and said second stream passing through said tubes, a chamber abovesaid tubes for mixing the two streams of treated air and permitting themixture to pass into a room or the like, and humidostat means forautomatically stopping the operation of the means for adding water tothe airwhen the humidity in the room or the like reaches a predeterminedlimit.

ARCHIBALD F. WRIGHT.

